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Shuffle Party slides onto Windows Phone 8's Xbox Live tile

It might not be a new Xbox Live release, but for the new Windows Phone 8 users, it's something they won't have seen before, so let's flag this up as 'new' but not count it as a 'new Xbox Live title' for the record. Updated to support WP8 (the WP7 version is still available), Shuffle Party mixes the traditional pub game with ten pin bowling, a head-to-head mode, a level based puzzle variant, and lots of power ups and collectible tables and pucks.

A number of Xbox Live titles were not officially available for Windows Phone 8 as the device launched - I suspect that some minor tweaks in the code were required but the Xbox Live certification process is taking time to get to these releases. If that's the case, then someone needs to stop and think about priorities. The Xbox Live titles are some of the most attractive names on the platform, by virtue of the branding, and they really should have been given priority and funding to be in place as quickly as possible on the platform.

Getting an update almost three months since the official release is a bit cheeky.

When I reviewed the game BACK IN, I found a good free game, albeit one that was not going to set the world alight:

Shuffle Party as a whole has some very smart physics going on, from the friction and deceleration the table imparts on your pucks, the reaction and bounce when you hit other items, it all feels smart and correct. The sounds on offer as well, from the slide down the table to the impact on other pucks and skittles, are crisp and authentic...

Shuffle Party works, the physics on show is accurate enough to not draw any raised eyebrows, and what is happening is all clear graphic-wise. It's great that Xbox Live has another free title, but of the four free titles that are now out (Minesweeper, Sudoku, Flower Garden, and now Shuffle Party), none of them are getting my gaming pulse up. Shuffle Party works well, it's nice to have, but it's missing that spark that takes a game idea and makes it into something wonderful.

You can download Shuffle Party for free from the Windows Store. It might take a day or so for the Windows Phone 8 version to become available around the world, so keep checking back if you can't see it.